


Desolation Row

by killjoywhatsername



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Post-Break Up, Slow Burn, Vigilantism, Watchmen AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 09:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killjoywhatsername/pseuds/killjoywhatsername
Summary: The Smuggler is dead. Someone is out there killing off past vigilantes and a reluctant Ben Solo gets dragged into the case. Not only is he dragged into a life that he had given up years ago, but he's forced to reconnect with his old flame, Armitage Hux, better known as Starkiller.





	Desolation Row

**Author's Note:**

> This a very loose Watchmen AU. I love a lot of the ideas that the graphic novel presents while hating a lot of it too. Thought it'd be fun to play with it using my favorite ship, and I'm finding I really love writing this story so I'm excited to see where it goes.

“FACEBOOK COLLECTING DATA FROM USERS”

“Why do you read this trash? It’s literally the most depressing shit.” Phasma said peering over Ben’s shoulder as he read the newspaper, “Besides, who reads print anymore?”

“I like to be informed,” he put down the paper and leaned back, looking up at Phasma, “and it’s gets even worse when you have it on your phone. Everything is some clickbait bullshit to get people enraged, a constant state of anxiety fueled by the powers that be.”

“You gotta admit, a lot of the world is bad though.”

He leaned back, looking up at her from his place in the chair. They were in the bar that they owned together, The Cantina (he wanted Kylo’s Den or The Thirst Order, but ultimately Phasma won and probably for good reason), getting ready for the day which really consisted of Ben sitting around while Phasma made sure things got done and kicked his ass if he was being truly being lazy. 

He shrugged, “Not saying it isn’t, just that having people live in this state of mind that the world is constantly ending, when it’s not, isn’t great either. There has to be some middle ground.”

She smiled, “Forever the idealist, even after everything.” she patted his shoulder and walked off to make sure everything was in order when they opened for the night. “If you can take some inventory that would be great.” She called back as she walked away and he knew it wasn’t a friendly suggestion. 

However his mind was still on her comment. By everything she meant the Miller Act. The act that Congress passed that outlawed vilgenatlaism. He sometimes didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, if people like Phas and him shouldn’t have taken the law into their own hands. They both had crossed some lines here and there, Rey too but she’d never admit it. Still, the people had spoken three years ago, or more so the politicians had spoken, and the age of vigilanties was over.

He, Phasma, Flyboy, Scavenger, Rebel Trooper , Starkiller, and a few others formed the First Order Resistance. A group of vigilantes known for taking the law in their own hands and ultimately helping people. For years they were beloved. Everyone wanted to see a glimpse of them, to talk to them, to be rescued by them. The tales of their heroics were widespread, every little kid wanted to grow up to be them.

The First Order Resistance was one of the best times of his life if he was being honest. It was the only time he felt like he was accomplishing something. As his alter ego, Kylo Ren, he took numerous criminals off the street which also served as a great outlet for his aggression. Their group never really got along. There was always a divide between Starkiller, Phasma, and himself and the others, but they had an uneasy alliance and put their differences aside for the greater good. 

It wasn’t the first vilegente group, but it was the last. The Rebels were the first group, the group his parents had be a part of, worked wonders for a much longer time. Ben still put a lot of the blame on the First Order Resistance failure on the fact that some older vigilantes like his father, The Smuggler, began to operate in a grey area. For instance, there was The Jedi who was beginning to lose touch with humanity and whom the government wanted to use for their own purposes. His uncle Luke, The Jedi, had taken a contract by the government to carry out orders for the country. His last act of cooperation before he went into voluntary isolation was stopping the Iraq War before it began. He was the only one of them that had honest to god powers and he used to stop war, but in doing so he quickly made vigilanties obsolete, or more so not wanted. In theory no war sounds like a dream, but to the politicians and big businessmen, it means less money in their pockets. The police and the military didn’t want to look weak anymore. And so the Miller Act was passed and he and the others were forced into retirement, or else they could work for the government.

He closed his paper. None of that mattered anymore. Even without the Miller Act they would have broken up.

Yeah, the First Order Resistance had it problems. Ben was happy it was gone, he really was. He had his bar with Phasma and he was happy. No more hurdling into danger, no more late nights staking out alleyways, and no more adrenaline rushes.

Really, he was happy.

He stood up but as he was about to head to the back to start taking inventory the door the bar bursted open. Ben instinctively took a defensive stance although he was not surprised to see it was Poe aka Flyboy who had ran in.

“Guys, really we need to talk.” He said sounding out of breath. His dark curls were damp around his face. None of them had really aged since the group disbanded, but no matter how many times Ben saw Poe he was struck by beauty. Old feelings were always stirred within him, the two of them had a relationship long ago. They both decided they were better off as friends but it never stopped Ben from appreciating the other’s looks.

Phasma poked her head out from kitchen, her blonde hair a vibrant contrast to the chrome interior. “Not again.”

Ben couldn’t help but smirk. He and Phasma had been used to Poe’s appearances. He was the only of them that defied the Miller Act and kept up his nighttime activities as Flyboy.

Ever since his boyfriend, Finn aka Rebel Trooper, had been beaten up and put in a coma for a few days, Poe has been convinced that someone had been hunting vigilantes. Finn was fine now, he woke up with no recollection of who attacked him. Finn never really wanted to talk about the attack either, rather he wanted to focus on his new career as a teacher and leave his vigilante past behind him. It also didn’t help that the the third person in their relationship, Rey aka Scavenger, had been off training with The Jedi, leaving Poe no one to really sound off ideas with.

“I’m serious. You need to talk to Hux. He’s in danger. We all are in danger.” Poe said with a seriousness that Ben wasn’t used to hearing from him. Poe usually kept things light no matter what, but now there was something deeply worried in his deep brown eyes. Ben had incredibly intuition, many in the group joked that he could read minds. It was evident that something was seriously wrong for Poe to be acting like this and to bring up that name. 

It was like a punch to the gut to hear that name spoken. 

That was the other reason the team disbanded. A year before it passed, Armitage Hux unmasked himself as Starkiller and became a beloved American icon. He quickly used his intelligence of to climb to the top of every millionaire list in the world. The unmasking made the uneasy alliance in the Order grow and made the public more wary of them. He became part of the problem and he did it all without consulting Ben who, at the time, was his longtime boyfriend.

Ben tried to give anything away in his expression or voice, “Why would I want to talk to that bastard?”

“My theory is true. Someone really is killing off masks. He could be in danger especially since he’s in the spotlight.” Poe said.

Ben raised his eyebrows, “You’ve been saying that but there’s no proof.” 

“It’s true, guys. Someone is killing off vigilantes. Hear me out. First Maz is found stabbed in an alleyway, then Meeko is dies, then someone tried to kill Finn, and now The Smuggler is dead--”

Ben sucked in a breath. Everything around him seemed heightened, the rest of what Poe was saying seemed to be white noise. He took a step back, shock taking over his body.

“What?” Phasma almost shouted, being the one to take charge. She walked out to where the two men were standing and gave a concerned look at Ben.

Poe seemed to be at a loss for words. The color drained from his face as he stammered, “I thought. I thought you knew. Ben, your dad died last night. They found him this morning. I’m so sorry, I really thought you knew.” He looked down at his feet. He meant it too, Ben knew he wouldn’t have been malicious enough to talk to so carelessly about the death of his father unless Ben already knew. Poe was a caring guy, after all. He had just been so wrapped up in this masked killer theory that he wasn’t thinking clearly. Ben knew that this was just how Poe got when he had a lead on a cold case, and the fact that this case had to do with his current crush Finn made it all the more important to the once vigilante.

“How did it happen?” Ben managed to get out. He sat down on one of the nearby bar stools. He grasped the counter with his right hand as he knew he needed to ground himself before he let his emotions get the best of him. 

“Pushed out his apartment window. Dropped thirty stories. Police are saying it was one of his deals going bad, that one of the gangs got to him and pushed him out.” Poe said the last part with disgust, clearly disbelieving the theory. 

“And you don’t think that’s true? He did have a lot of enemies.” Phasma interjected. She had a point. It sounded plausible to Ben. His father never really gave much thought to the negative consequences to his actions, namely how they could affect his family if a situation like this ever happened and he was murdered because he cheated the wrong guy and didn’t make it out.

Ben wanted to ignore the what ifs for now, “Does my my mom know?” Ben asked, angry that the answer would be yes and for whatever reason she hadn’t told him yet. 

“I would think so. I found out through my police scanner,” He looked at Ben with eyes full of sadness and pity. He then turned his attention to Phasma, “I also went to the crime scene before coming here which is how I know that this wasn’t some gang hit. I’m telling you someone is going after masks.”

Ben let out a sigh of relief. It was a small mercy but a meaningful one that Poe found out the way that he did. Ben wouldn’t have been able to control himself of his mother had told Poe before him. The two of them were close. Poe was like a son to Leia, it took Ben a long time to overcome the jealous he felt for the other man. Leia and him seemed to have had the perfect relationship whereas her and Ben always had a contentious one. If she had told Poe instead of him, he probably would have choked Poe. 

“I got to go see her,” Ben said, looking at Phasma, “Can you hold down the fort?”

Phasma nodded, “Yeah, take your time. I can handle things for the next few days.” 

Ben stood up and hugged the blond tight. When he let go he smiled, “You’re the best, but you already know that.”

She smirked, “Still nice to hear from time to time.”

He moved away from Phasma and looked at Poe. “Do you want to come with?” He asked, knowing that his mother would most likely appreciate Poe’s presence and if Ben was being honest with himself, he’d need a distraction after the initial talk was done. Not to mention, he was still bitter that his mother hadn’t told him anything. 

Poe looked a little taken back, most likely surprised. “Uh, sure, I’d actually like that, thanks.”

Ben nodded and so the two of them left to go talk to his mother, otherwise known as The Princess.


End file.
